Couples celebrated for ‘gift of your marriage’

SEWELL – As high school sophomores 70 years ago, Nancy and George Thompson often found themselves on different sides of the street, quite literally.

When they would travel to and from Camden’s Woodrow Wilson High School, they did so in the same direction. However, “I tried to go a different way so I wouldn’t run into him,” Nancy Thompson said with a laugh.

One day, a car barreled toward her as she crossed the street, and George quickly intervened.

Photo Gallery: Wedding Anniversary Mass

“He grabbed my hand, pulled me back and has been holding on to me ever since,” she said. Now married 60 years – on July 11, 1964, at Saint Joseph Pro-Cathedral Church in Camden – she said that their “Catholic faith has kept us strong.”

The Thompsons, now members at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Shrine in Lindenwold, joined more than 50 couples celebrating milestone anniversaries for the Diocese’s annual Wedding Anniversary Mass.

“I sincerely, gratefully thank you for the gift of your marriage,” Bishop Dennis Sullivan told those gathered Nov. 3 at Holy Family Parish. “The power of God has been at work in your marriages. The Church and society have benefited from your spousal love.”

During the liturgy, the couples celebrating 25, 50, 60, 70 and 75 years of marriage renewed their wedding vows, asking God to help “remain faithful in our love for another, so that we may be true witnesses to the covenant you have made with humankind.”

Inviting each couple to join hands, Bishop Sullivan blessed their wedding rings and asked for the Lord’s graces upon them. “As you have sustained their communion amid joys and struggles, renew their marriage covenant each day, increase their charity, [and] strengthen in them the bond of love so that they may forever enjoy your blessings.”

Edna and Albert Schollenberger from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Galloway, have seen God’s work in their lives for more than seven decades.

Overseas with the Seabees in the 1940s, Albert Schollenberger would pray novenas three times a week. “Monday to Mary, Wednesday to Saint Anthony, Friday to Saint Jude,” he said.

His prayer? “For a great sweetheart to marry.”

Back home in New Jersey a few years later, he met Edna at the Hightstown Country Club.

“I knew it was her,” he said with a smile. “One dance, and she was mine. I think it was the Tennessee Waltz.” The two were married Aug. 28, 1954.

Edna, in turn, said she knows today what she recognized then: “Albert is a good man, that’s for sure.”

Sitting in the pews before Mass, the Schollenbergers wore matching hearts around their necks that read “70 years married” and carried a family portrait of the two with their seven adult children.

“We thank God every day for what he’s done for us,” Albert Schollenberger said.

From Our Lady of Hope Parish, Blackwood, Concepcion and Luis Sosa were marking 25 years, which will be official Dec. 30.

Growing up in Mexico, the two got to know each other as teens when their siblings began dating. They also belonged to the same church, and served in the same ministry.

“I got into choir to be closer to Luis,” Concepcion said, laughing.

The two made their way to the United States 13 years ago, and celebrating with them Nov. 3 was Concepcion’s mother, Flor; and the couple’s four children, Fernando, Luis, Diego and Natalia.

The Sosas said they have been intentional throughout the years in seeking God’s blessing and guidance. “[He is] the center of our marriage. We’ve stayed together through prayer, and thanks to Him, I’m here today with my family, and I’m happy.”

Among those celebrating the couples were their families, parish pastors and Coadjutor Bishop Joseph Williams. In addition to Mass, they joined the couples for light refreshments in the parish hall.

Many of the couples’ sons and daughters expressed appreciation for the love and faith passed down to future generations.

“It’s an absolute blessing to be here with them,” Christi Clark said of her parents, Barbara and John Angelucci, from Saint Rose of Lima Parish, Haddon Heights. The Angeluccis are celebrating 60 years of marriage.

Remarking that her parents “always brought my three siblings to church,” Clark added that all the children have remained committed Catholics. “They’ve inspired us to stay close to God.”

Father Steven Bertonazzi, administrator at Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Collingswood, expressed similar sentiments, concelebrating the Mass that also honored his parents, Janice and Steven Bertonazzi. The Bertonazzis have been married for 50 years.

“I’ve seen and come to love the faith that was handed on, and the impact of going to Mass at 7:30 every Sunday morning at Saint Mary’s [in East Vineland,]” he said, adding that his parents’ devotion to the faith played a large part in his vocation to the priesthood. “It’s very special to me to be their son.”